World Cinema
Saturday (10/9)
02:10 Channel 4 First Love (2019)
23:55 BBC1 The Keeper (2018)
Sunday (11/9)
01:20 Film4 Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (2020)
Tuesday (13/9)
01:55 Channel 4 Manusangada (2017)
23:15 Film4 A Hidden Life (2019)
Terence Malick’s epic, based on the experience of Franz Jagerstatter (August Diehl), an Austrian farmer living in a mountain idyll with his wife Franziska (Valerie Pachner), who is confronted by the unwelcome arrival of WW2. Franz does his military training uncomplainingly and returns to his farm and his family, but when he is expected to swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler and join up fully, he refuses due to his anti-war and anti-Nazi views. This puts him in conflict with other villagers whose sons and husbands have already enlisted, and who see his refusal as a betrayal, leading to the conflict being played out on a local scale. Despite Franz living the pastoral life idealised by the Nazis, only ostracisation and punishment await. The angled camerawork leads to a sense of dislocation, of a vertiginous experience. Michael Nyqvist, in his final film, appears as Bishop Joseph Fliesser, from whom Franz, as a devout Catholic, seeks advice. The cast also includes Bruno Ganz (as Judge Lueben), Franz Rogowski and Matthias Schoenaerts. The relationship between the two leads is marvellously tender and Jagerstatter’s biographer Ema Putz said Malick had made an ‘independent and universal work’. (JR)
Friday (16/9)
01:45 Film4 Moffie (2019)
02:00 Channel 4 Village Rockstars (2017)
My Picks
Saturday (10/9)
00:35 BBC2 Surviving 9/11 (2021)
Brilliant documentary about the experiences of various survivors, including an artist who had a studio near the top of one of the World Trade Center towers (‘It’s a view that no longer existed, but I needed to recreate it’), a woman who experienced 82.5% burns, and a fireman who at one point was going to a funeral of a different colleague every day. Made by British director Arthur Cary, who won the BAFTA for Best Director: Factual for The Last Survivors, about the last remaining Holocaust survivors living in Britain. (JR)
13:10 BBC2 The 39 Steps (1935)
The most celebrated British director Alfred Hitchcock was arguably still honing his skills in 1935, this may not quite deliver the enduring evergreen quality of some of his later classics, but is still an engrossing, well made mystery thriller, with some of the master’s trademark suspense, and could arguably be a blueprint for North by Northwest. The story follows two strangers (Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll) one of which has been falsely accused of a public killing, who must travel cross country to find the meaning of a plot about military secrets and the mysterious sounding ’39 Steps’, which should hold the key to a brace of murders. [MH]
14:35 BBC2 The Lady Vanishes (1938)
This is the film that brought Hitchcock his way into Hollywood under the wing of David O. Selznick. From the gorgeous opening shot, the film is a triumph of visual control and plot, and set Hitch on track to making some of the greatest, most arresting amd enduring films of all time. When an elderly lady vanishes on a train trip through the picturesque Europe, her travel companion is told she only imagined her presence, but suspects foulplay and teams up with another passenger to expose the truth. [MH]
Monday (12/9)
21:00 Film4 A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood (2019)
Mellow drama about the much loved US children’s entertainer, daytime TV host and personality Mr Rogers, an equivalent of whom we may not have this side of the pond. Hollyood go to everyman Tom Hanks is at his most soft-spoken and wise seeming to portrayal the man, whose kind and gentle persona may mask a more complex personal life. The story quietly and stoicly deals with his family life, and tries to portray some hidden darkness. For some it weaves a complex and engrossing tapestry of a man whose life was so important to so many others, but still may leave some cold and unsatisfied with it’s reserved style. [MH]
Thursday (15/9)
01:40 Film4 Searching (2018)
Friday (16/9)
21:05 Talking Pictures Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The original, seminal zombie horror from George A. Romero, whose name has since became synonymous with them. The concept of a small group of strangers stuck in a house together, defending against the marauding hordes of undead, may seem a simple stalwart now, but was revolutionary at the time, and became a formula that has since been redone countless times. An exceedingly straight forward premise, executed wonderfully, and still packs a punch, especially a certain shocking moment in the basement. A vital stop in the evolutionary timeline of horror cinema. [MH]
Others
Sunday (11/9)
21:40 BBC4 The Great Mountain Sheep Gather (2020)
22:00 BBC3 Avicii: true Stories (2017) (also Friday 21:00)
Tuesday (13/9)
21:00 BBC4 Gorbachev. Heaven (2020)
Wednesday (14/9)
22:40 BBC1 Rush (2013)
Ron Howard brings the 1976 Formula One season to the big screen, examining the legendary fued between the supremely methodical and precise Austrian Niki Lauda (played by Daniel Bruhl) and the fun-loving British playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth). The two eventually became great friends, but not before the title went right to the wire, with their personal and professional differences making headlines through the sport. F1 fans and others should appreciate the great human interest story and the high octane racing sequences, with music from Hans Zimmer. [MH]
Oldies
Saturday (10/9)
21:05 Talking Pictures Sammy Going South (1963) (also Thursday 15:00)
Sunday (11/9)
19:00 Talking Pictures The Browning Version (1951) (also Monday 18:00)
Friday (16/9)
14:15 BBC2 The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)